I love PowerPoint games in the classroom. And my students love them too. They’re fun, and they also take up a lot of time. Anyone who has read previous posts will know that I think one of the best things an ESL teacher can do is kill time in the class. Time is always your enemy when you’re teaching ESL students, so you need to have games that last quite a bit. That’s why I made Where in the World. This fun and easy game only has 28 slides, for a total of 14 pictures. Students need to name the city, country, or continent that the picture shows to get points. The catch is, I always take the very first word out of the students’ mouth. So if there’s a great picture of Beijing, and they know it’s Beijing, but they get excited and yell out China, well, that’s going to be less points.How does it Work? I always show a copy of my world map, which is saved right in My Documents so that it’s easy to pull up. I tell them that the world has seven continents, and ask them to name a few. They’re pretty good. I then ask how many countries there are. A lot of students will come close. There are about 206 to 207, depending on the world situation at the time. After that I ask how many cities, and I get a groan. I don’t know, millions. Points are simple:

Continent = 1 point

Country = 2 points

City = 3 points.

If one team doesn’t know, I give the other team a chance. If one team gets the continent or country, I give the other team a chance to get the next answer. I really hope that you check out the free game I offer in this exciting series. If you like it you can buy more, or make your own,. It’s pretty easy, and it will help you get through those last frustrating 20 minutes of class.